Goch Explained

Type:	Stadt
Goch
Image Coa:	DEU Goch COA.svg
Coordinates:	51.6839°N 6.1619°W
Image Plan:	Goch in KLE.svg
State:	Nordrhein-Westfalen
Region:	Düsseldorf
District:	Kleve
Elevation:	18
Area:	115.38
Postal Code:	47574
Area Code:	02823, 02827 (Kessel, Hassum, Hommersum)
Licence:	KLE
Gemeindeschlüssel:	05 1 54 016
Website:	www.goch.de
Mayor:	Ulrich Knickrehm^[1]
Leader Term:	2020 - 25

Goch (pronounced as /de/; archaic spelling: Gog; Dutch; Flemish: '''Gogh'''|i=no) is a town in the Kleve district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, close to the border with the Netherlands, 12km (07miles) south of Kleve and 27km (17miles) southeast of Nijmegen.

History

Goch is at least 750 years old: the earliest mention of Goch is in a document dated 1259. It was a part of the Duchy of Cleves. During World War II, the city was completely destroyed by Allied bombers during Operation Veritable.^[2]

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany. Goch is twinned with:^[3]

• Andover, England, United Kingdom
• Meierijstad, Netherlands (formerly Veghel)
• Nowy Tomyśl, Poland
• Redon, France

Notable people

• Otto III (980–1002), Holy Roman Emperor
• Johannes von Goch (c. 1400–1475), Medieval theologian
• Maarten Schenck van Nydeggen (1540–1589), military commander in the Netherlands
• Francisco de Moncada (1586–1635), Spanish author, military leader, and governor of the Spanish Netherlands, died here
• Aenne Biermann (1898–1933), photographer
• Hubert Houben (1898–1956), athlete
• Josefa Idem (born 1964), Italian sprint canoer and politician
• Arnold Janssen (1837–1909), founder of the Society of the Divine Word, a Roman Catholic missionary congregation
• Rita Kersting (born 1969), art historian
• Luisa Wensing (born 1993), footballer

Vincent van Gogh, according to his name, which translates to "Vincent of Goch", has ancestors likely native to this location.

Notes and References

1. https://www.wahlergebnisse.nrw/kommunalwahlen/2020/index_bm.shtml Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020
2. Web site: Stadtgeschichte. Stadt Goch. 30 May 2013.
3. Web site: Städtepartnerschaft. goch.de. Goch. de. 2021-03-10. 2021-04-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20210413015444/https://www.goch.de/de/inhalt-3/staedtepartnerschaften/. dead.